A-HA! Rate your a-ha - rank them by order of preference!

My order of worthiness goes as follows:

Following my train of thought so far, are ya?

(not the song I remember - but the title's the same...?!?)

That's right - no room for "Take On Me" sillyness on MY luminous list!

;)

Straight Lines versus a rather meek Coldplay...?

ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS (MOSTLY) UNSUNG CLASSIC SONG'S RELEASE -
WE CELEBRATE THE BIGGEST HIT OF ONE BAND THAT IS NO MORE!
A SONG I CAN PROUDLY PROCLAIM THE GREATEST SONG OF ALL-TIME
(IN MY HUMBLE OPINION  - BACK IN 1982,  IT SURE MADE AN IMPACT  - THAT IS FOR SURE!)
BY PITTING IT UP AGAINST A BAND THAT KEEPS WANTING MORE AND MORE!



Letting Go - Straight Lines

They say if you love somebody
You've gotta set them free
And if you really love somebody
You've gotta let them be

Well, I don't wanna tie you down
We both need room to grow
But it's so easy having you around
And the hardest part of love is letting go

It's easy to depend on someone
To be part of your life
And all the time you spend with someone
To make you hold her tight

But I don't wanna tie you down
We both need room to grow
But it's so easy having you around
And the hardest part of love is letting go

The hardest part of love is letting go
The hardest part of love is letting go

They say that if you hold on to it
It's gonna slip away
But if the feeling's really true
Then you know it's gonna stay

But I don't wanna tie you down
We both need room to grow
But it's so easy having you around
And the hardest part of love is letting go

Letting go
Letting go
The hardest part of love is letting go

*******

Albums can be found at: http://www.musicstack.com/show.cgi

Singles
1980 Heads Are Gonna Roll (Epic/CBS)
1980 Roanne (Epic/CBS)
1982 Letting Go (Epic/CBS)
1982 There Are No Secrets (Epic/CBS)

Albums
1980 Straight Lines (Epic/CBS)
1982 Run For Cover (Epic/CBS)

Biography:

Bob Buckley (keyboards, saxophone, clarinet)
David Sinclair (guitar, lead vocals)
Daryl Burgess (drums, percussion, marimba)
Peter Clarke (bass, vocals)
Peter Padden (druns, percussion, vocals)

As seasoned studio musicians, Buckley and Sinclair
Originally gained popularity as Dogstar
And attracted the attention of CBS Records in Toronto
The label loved the act (and the songs)
But not the name so it was effectively changed to Straight Lines

After a succession of songwriting episodes
with Chilliwack's Howie Vickers
The band went into the studio with producers
Martin Shaer (Sweeney Todd) and Jack Richardson (Guess Who)
and engineer Bob Rock
To laydown tracks for their self-titled debut
which featured two singles
"Heads Are Gonna Roll" and "Roanne" (which made the RPM Top-100)

Their second album, 'Run For Cover'
Faired a little better with the hit single "Letting Go"
making it all the way to the Top-10 in Canada
A second single, "There Are No Secrets",
would scrape the RPM Top-40
But it was enough to land them
a 'Composers Of The Year' Juno Award nomination

But even the significant Bruce Allen management team
Couldn't generate sufficient international interest
And CBS dropped them resulting in Straight Lines disbanding

The duo carried on and managed to bump into Frank Ludwig
Who had left Randy Bachman's Ironhorse/Union band
And was doing social work with juvenile delinquents in Vancouver.
Buckley and Sinclair asked him to join as lead vocalist
and keyboard player
Along with drummer Ross Friesen
And they landed a deal with Attic Records as Body Electric
(Data from webfitz.com)



Now compare the majesty of the preceding song
to the rather meekness of the 'band-of-the-day' - Coldplay
and their take on what is the "Hardest Part"...


And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
Was the hardest part

And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
Bittersweet, I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the cloud
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
You really broke my heart

And I tried to sing
But I couldn’t think of anything
And that was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're a silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it’s all about
I wonder what it’s all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do, it's just comes undone
And everything is torn apart

Oh and it’s the part
That’s the hardest part
Yeah that’s the hardest part
That’s the hardest part






THERE IS NO CONTEST HERE!

COLDPLAY - IS COLD TURKEY!

STRAIGHT LINES/BODY ELECTRIC WINS - WITH EASE!

THE HARDEST PART OF LOVE IS LETTING GO
NOT MERELY "NOT TAKING PART"... NO!

(Heck, I'd rate Rubber Rodeo -a truly forgotten act/band- and their very own "hardest song" -it was titled "the hardest thing" as it was- higher than Coldplay's crap any day of the week and thrice on Sunday too...! But that is another story...!)

Le Combat Des... Ombres?!?

Mylène Farmer et la sienne...
(Je crois, en tous cas...!)




Mademoiselle K et la sienne...




Saez et la sienne...




La Rumeur (...) plus rapide que son ombre!




Myrtille et son ombre bien à elle...




L'Ombre Chinoise maintenant...




Psykup - son tour - "L'Ombre et la Proie" en plus...!




Noush et son ombre (ou "L'ombre des Avenues" pour être plus précis) maintenant...




Lonah et la sienne...




Lonah et la sienne, encore...





L'ombre d'ELLE maintenant...
(sounds like un métèque...?!)
(No offense meant!)





L'ombre de DIEU - par Friedrich Nietzsche?!?
(des dires de Friedrich: ça vaut RIEN DU TOUT!
Sa chanson de mes gongs, je veux dire
- pas le Sujet traité, bien sûr!)





Renaud et son ombre bien à lui "à c't'heure..."






L'ombre de Mylène Farmer réapparaît...
(juste au cas où...!)





Vegastar - et "L'Ombre de vos vies"...





Ombre et Crépuscule





L'Ombre de SRAM (le Service régional d'admission du métropolitain...?!?)





Dionysos nous dit que
"Mon (son) Ombre Est Personne"
Ah bon...




Aes Dana - "Mer de Glace et d'Ombre" (hard rock!)





OMBRE SILENTI (Aes Dana devrait en faire autant...!)
"Missione Selvaggia" - du rap...!!!




"Oeuvre Dans L'Ombre" (encore du rap!!!
Les rappeurs aiment les coins ombrageux, faut croire...)





L'ombre de Mylène est de retour...!!!
(où ça? À Mytilène?)





L'Ombre de SYZYGY maintenant...






Weepers Circus et LEUR ombre: et la demoiselle, en plus...
en bonus...? (Un son style... Squirrel Nut Zippers?)





Mylène revient nous hanter dans l'ombre
une fois de plus...





Françoise Hardy - À L'Ombre De La Lune





et... Céline Dion... qui, elle, cherche l'ombre...






No - Los Hombres will not appear on this program! *LOL*


Choose one from the choices before ya!


Like...


NOW!

Yeah - NOW!

An easy one now... VERY easy...

Would you rather give some extra pocket money to the supreme huckster of the day - Vinnie Mac and his WWE - or would you rather watch some of the above offerings on the YouTube screens below - FREE OF CHARGE?!?

Warning: we even have some BONUS STUFF here - depending upon availability, as always!

Do You Compute? Original Versus Copy-Cats

The Original...




And the "homage"...


Which one do you prefer, folks?

Donnie Iris - sort of Pennsylvania's
one-man STYX...?

Or his devoted -
and imitative -
admirers?


(I know Pittsburgh pukes will vote for Mr. Iris -
as well they should too;
they have so few legends down there
to really call their own
(I mean, Clemente was a foreigner!
Mario is a (lesser) one too!
And Jaromir went to NYC!
Sure, you are happy with Crosby now...
And the Steelers might steal one...
one day...
Or they might not!
Your odd assemblage of
Pirates and Penguins
just never made for much
genuine "local pride"...
More likely it is good for
mere mercenary behaviour -
like that Recchi shortie
who will hang out for a while
and then take off for
greener pastures...
When he can!
But I digress...)

So - Donnie Iris
is a legend in Pittsburgh
(Is it Donnie or Donny anyway?)

Vote for him!

But the rest of the world
(dumb as they are worldwide)
might vote for the copycat nerd!

Who knows!

You gotta VOTE, folks -
and then we will find out - EH?


And speaking of EH...
(Note the origin of this pirated video!
The first one, that is...
DUH!
It can only be the first one -
the ORIGINAL ONE -
since the second one is but
a cheap homemade thingie!
The sort that even
AMERICA'S HOME VIDEOS
actually shuns!
But I am digressing again...!!!)

The ORIGINAL Donnie Iris video
was actually made fun of
on French-Canadian cable channel
MUSIQUE PUS... I mean, PLUS...
On a show hosted by a Montreal
stand-up comedian
who speaks zero english
and goes by the name of
Louis-José Houde, I do believe
(not the best marquee name, EH?)
And the show is called
"DOLLARACLIP"
(Sort of a nod to
local dollar store chain
DOLLARAMA (they should sue!)
Aye - DOLLARACLIP is, hence,
a showcase for both
cheap videos
and cheap comedy -
provided by the lousy host!)

HA!
Pittsburgh's Legend
is treated as trash
in MONTRÉAL...?!?
The dreary so-called
"talents"
that pepper Montreal's
so-called star system
KNOW NOT HOW TO ENTERTAIN!
DONNIE IRIS DOES!


I'd say they trashed Iris
out of spite!

Yeha folks -
this is truly
PROFESSIONAL JEALOUSY
ONE!
Donnie Iris will do more
for any live audience
that a dozen Quebec-groomed
new talents ever will!
(Star Academy graduates,
for instance...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)


And Louis-José must be pallies
with Mario Pelchat or something!

*LOL*

Vote for the Funkiest Love Song Here - And Win Absolutely NOTHING!

Five-Way Free-For-All With... Jefferson Airplane! The Animals! The Beatles! The Who! And the Rolling Stones!

Eric Burdon & The Animals - WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE



Eric Burdon & The Animals - PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD



Eric Burdon & The Animals - THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (1964)



Eric Burdon & The Animals - IT'S MY LIFE (1965)



Eric Burdon & The Animals - DON'T BRING ME DOWN (1966)
(Never to be confused with the ELO's song titled likewise)



The Who - WHO ARE YOU?



The Who - BEHIND BLUE EYES



The Who - BABA O'RILEY



The Who - WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN



The Who - MY GENERATION - at Woodstock 1969!




Jefferson Airplane - WHITE RABBIT - at Woodstock 1969 too!




Jefferson Airplane - SOMEBODY TO LOVE - same spot, same time!
(No - it isn't Charles Manson singing back up to Grace Slick - now, is it?!?)



Jefferson Airplane - TODAY



Jefferson Airplane - VOLUNTEERS



Jefferson Airplane - PLASTIC FANTASTIC LOVER



Jefferson Airplane - CROWN OF CREATION






Two more versions of WHITE RABBIT...
Go ask Alice why - when she's ten feet tall...!





The Beatles - HELP!




The Beatles - YESTERDAY




The Beatles - AND I LOVE HER




The Beatles - HERE COMES THE SUN




The Beatles - IN MY LIFE




The Beatles - TICKET TO RIDE





The Rolling Stones - LIKE A ROLLING STONE (DUH!)




The Rolling Stones - UNDER MY THUMB




The Rolling Stones - GIMME SHELTER (1969)




The Rolling Stones - SATISFACTION




The Rolling Stones - START ME UP (uh - don't bother!)

Not Enough... versions?!?

Which version do YOU like best then - hmm?

Donny Versus Donny

DONNY IRIS (or Donnie Iris?) - "DO YOU COMPUTE"




DONNY IRIS - "AH LEAH"
(The biggest hit in the solo career of this former
member of "Wild Cherry"...)



DONNY OSMOND - "ANY DREAM WILL DO"
(From the famed musical
"Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
ah - okaaay, right...!)



DONNY OSMOND - "WHENEVER YOU'RE IN TROUBLE"
(Uh - call in the rest of the 101 Osmonds?)



I gotta give this one to the guy who did NOT have dolls made out of him
The guy who looks dorky a bit - but sounds cool
The guy who is the second coming of Buddy Holly -
mixed in with some Devo and maybe even Weird Al... maybe!
Aye, I am talking about Mr. Iris!

Dumas versus Mike

A FIGHT THAT COULD HAPPEN TOO!

Do you have any idea how many Mikes there are in Dumas' backyard?
Montreal is bursting at the seams with them!
And surely any one of them can be at odds with Dumas at ANY given time!
Dumas being such an irritable goateed little twerp, you know...
Hence -

Winner by default - MIKE (with interference from The Mechanics!)
(A classic Horsemen M.O. - yay!)

Besides - the Dumas video is always hanging up... argh!

Good luck trying to have these other Dumass... Dumbass... darn, DUMAS (duh!) videos to play from beginning to end without interruption now...!

Linda vs Linda

Linda Traditionelle (et classique donc!)
versus
Linda Remixée! (par un dénommé Benny Benassi)


Que choisir - n'est-ce pas? ;)


And have an update on Linda now
see what she's up to these days - on me!